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The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-09-06, Page 4WO mob= bbance -Mimeo Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, Wingham, Ontario Phone (519) 357-2320 Fax (519) 357-2900 J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett - Publisher Audrey Currie - Manager Cameron .1. Wood - Editor Cathy Hendt iks - Ad. Sales Stephen Pritchard - Production Jim Brown - Reporter • Margaret Stapleton -Reporter Eve Buchanan - Office Louise Welwood - Office • <..' '. V CL. Member of: 'OCNA CCNA The Wingham Advance -Times is a member of a family of community, newspapers providing news, advertising and information•leadership. Leiters Policy All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telephone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times wel- comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline for letters is Monday before 10:00 a.m. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: 519-357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 'k. Editorial Viewpoint Court case not in best interest here is something wrong with our political system or more likely our politicians — when one real- izes that almost a year later, a defeated PQ candi- date is still pursuing a case in court that could see the election result in the Laurentian riding of Bertrand over- turned, in part because some Westmounters voted there, where their cottages or second homes are, instead of vot- ing in Westmount-St. Louis. The defeated candidate, a high profile one, was Mo- nique Simard. The winner, by a 146 -vote margin, was Liberal Robert Therien. It's been so long, pdhaps more reminders are needed to refresh the memory. First, Simard failed to file any protest during the elec- tion campaign about people allegedly registering "ille- gally." Then, after the vote, she filed her complaint a day late. Within the electoral rules, the Bertrand election at that point was over and the result should have been al- lowed to stand. But clearly, Simard was having none of it. The solution? Charge the Westmounters with "voter fraud," to get a new vote called. That's the case that we heard from last month, in which several Westmount resi- dents, some of them seniors, were hauled into court in St. Jerome, and were harassed by PQ supporters who attend- ed the proceedings as spectators. For their part, most of the Westmounters involved said they spend as much or more time up north, and felt they had a right to vote there. The case was adjourned until later this month. (Curi- ously, Simard herself is an Outremont resident who also voted up north. As reported in The Examiner, her name was removed in an ` amendment to court documents, which means she won't have to testify.) That this case has been allowed to, get this far, with members of the public being harassed, court time being tied up, and tax- payers' money 'being spent, is ridiculous. It is near the point of becoming abusive. The election is over. The PQ has its majority. Whether Mrs. Simard is given another chance to win the riding (and burn up °thousands more tax dollars in the process) will make little difference to anyone but Mrs. Simard. Being an MNA is not the only way to serve the Quebec public, if that is what Mrs. Simard is concerned about. Although from her actions; it would appear that doing what's best for the public is well down on her priority list. — Bernie O'Neill, OCNA BBS ::>fk`.:R m "•f'K3'q, i+.gu.. ;,. .. c .rta eiyy A reason to smile Wingham For those parents who endured another summer holiday with the children at home. You know, they're the ones with the wide grins on their face today. Happy Back to School Week. or with Margaret Stapleton SEPTEMBER 1948 Miss Norma Coutts has accept- ed a position on the staff of the Tilbury High School and com- menced her duties there on Tues- day. The public school board has an- nounced that Kindergarten will commence on Monday, Sept. 13, in the basement of the Masonic Hall. The Wingham Public School has 261 pupils enroled for the year, not including 42 in Kin- dergarten. The high school has a total enrolment of 203. Messrs. Currie and ' Tervit showed their colt. "Jean Dillon" at the CNE and wdre successful in winning the first prize in the two- year-old standard bred class, first in the futurity class and junior champion class: L. Vannan o11 Belgrave received his appointment from the office of the provincial secretary last week as commissioner of affadavits and power to administer oaths in the County of Huron. A former super- intendent of customs and excise, Mr. Vannan is a veteran of the first war. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Halliday of Wroxeter wish to announce the engagement of their only daugh- ter, Agnes Norma Mae, t6 Gordon Nelson Lou:tit. SEPTEMBER 1961 it was a had week for barn fires as three district farmers lost barns with damage that would amount to nearly $50,000. The large barn owned' by Earl Weitz, Cort. 6 of Turnberry, was lost to fire, as was the James Sanderson barn south of Wroxeter. The third barn lost to fire was owned by William M. Hardy near St. Augustine. T. S. Beattie, principal of Wingham Public School, reports an attendance of 475 pupils on Tuesday, the first day of school. This is a lower registration than usual, owing to a transfer of 24 children to the new Sacred Heart school and a lower Kindergarten registration. In a letter to town council, Cen- tral Mortgage and Housing has announced that tenants in the homes in Hillcrest may now pur- chase the houses. The 48 homes in question will sell for $5,850 for the two-bedroom size to $6,400 for the three-bedroom model. SEPTEMBER 1971 A Kindergarten class is a new addition to the service offered by Sacred Heart Separate School this year. Mrs. Del Graham will teach the class. Voters in the province of Al- berta turned out in unprecedented numbers on Monday to defeat the govnerment of former Premier Harry Strom and the Social Credit Party. Peter Lougheed, a 43 -year- old Calgary lawyer, led the Con- servatives to power. In Ontario politics, Murray Gaunt, MPP for Huron -Bruce is again the choice of local Liberals to carry the party standard in a provincial election expected for. 'October. Lou Boyce of Kincar- dine was chosen Progressive Con- servative candidate. Murray Lougheed has been ap- pointed manager of the Belgrave Co -Op, succeeding Don Walker. SEPTEMBER 1981 Recreation Director Rennie Al- exander will not be leaving Wing - ham after all. After having'sub- mitted a letter of resignation to the recreation board so that he could take a job in Chatham, Mr. Alexander last week withdrew his resignation and will remain in town. The new Doug Davidson home on Charles Street uses an innova- tive method of heating and cool- ing: a water -powered heat ex- changer. Thousands attended the 125th anniversary party at Hbwick. WHINE= &REINER 61995 All hail, tie `king' is dead j1 ike little children attempting to justify a chocolate -covered hand caught in the cookie jar, the media in Ontario is rapidly seek- ing for a sacrificial lamb to put some blame on. The repulsing air from the Bernar- do case had barely settled when the 'main'stream media — primarily the Toronto Star — unleashed its own at- tack on the world over how the case was handled. The first victim in their sights: the police. No surprise here, especially when one considers how anti -police the liberal Star has grown over the past few years. Even the usually conservative and less contro- versial Kitchener -Waterloo Record went for the collective police jugu- lar. From there' the trail led to the Crown Attorney's office, the publi- cation ban imposed by Justice Fran- cis Kovacs during the Karla Homol- ka trial, Chief Justice Patrick LeSage, the forensic. labs, and even- tually a very slight broach ori the de- fense lawyers and the original Ber- nardo lawyer Ken Murray. In fact, very few seem to be discussing that aspect of the case — especially the media, and with only mere admis- . sion, hardly comparable to the criti- cism of the police. If anyone should be held account- able for the manner in which the case unfolded before the public it is Murray who must bear the weight. He obtained and then withheld evi- The Outer Edge Cameron. J. WOOD dence from the court and the police for several months, allowing the Crown Attorney to seek a deal with Homolka. A deal that which is now in seriousq uestion. It seems in a case that became much more about "the public's right • to know" versus the right to a fair trial, the daily media has exonerated itself from any responsibility in how this case came to light a,nd decided that they should be the first to cast the stone. Nothing unusual in this approach as we in the media tradi- tionally find no fault with out stance, and yet jump quickly to attack those who criticize. It's something that we are all guilty of. Typically; agencies like our police departments make easy target. It's doubtful they will ever contest what is said or written about them in the media. Nor will lawyers, judges or most jurors. It's kind of like shoot- ing fish in a barrel — with an ele- phant gun. The task of arresting a perpetrator, getting them to trial and establishing justice is a process most of us take very much for granted. Often the po- lice merely serve an arrest notice is- sued by the Crown Attorney, yet people believe they act on their own. I find that most people who are quick to criticize the legal system spend very little timegetting to know how the process -'works, I'm sure if they did, they would have.a new appreciation for what our police services and court officials deal with. Maybe, just maybe, they would understand the struggle. I've often said court is not about justice...it's about how good your lawyer is. I maintain that. If our court system tvo@kdd) d'ni th$ �baae naked basis of justice, we would not see plea bargains, lawyers withhold- ing evidence and judges' needs tb push offenders through the system at blinding speed. But the police are not at fault, nor are the lawyers, judges or court offi- cials. We, the public are for allowing our system to become so dramatical- ly flawed that the unbelievable hap- pens daily. Concurrently, we have also silently allowed the special in- terest groups to lobby for changes to the criminal code that provide great- er rights for convicts than victims. The Bernardo trial has brought the reality of how our court system works to, the general public. Previ- ously we had heard stories of inade- quate sentencing and ridiculous plea bargains. It has made us understand that we need to look at how we dis- pense justice in Canada. Harris develops ties to USA TORONTO -- Mike Harris should TORONTO -- Mike Harris should have run for governor of New York State -- or even more aptly Montana where everyone packs a gun. The Progressive Conservative premier is unable to hide his unbounded admi- ration for all things American. He spent his summer vacation at an 'exclusive private fishing camp' in company that included former U.S. president George Bush. The pre- mier's aides refused to say how they happened to wind up together on the ground that holiday arrangements are personal, but there are a lot of places to fish and the meeting of the two arch -conservatives could hardly have been pure coincidence. Harris claimed the only advice he got from Bush was on holding his rod and the premier certainly would not have been asking for guidance on how to win an election. But Harris has long been enam- ored of the U.S. Many of his policies appear to have been inspired by that country and particularly its Republi- can administrations. These include making able-bodied welfare recip- ients work for benefits and 'boot camps' for young offenders. Harris was elected particularly on a promise to cut massive, costly in- terfering bureaucracy which has been the cry of every Republican elected to Washington in memory. Harris's plans to create jobs include cutting provincial income tax by 30 per cent so consumers will be left with money to invest and make the economy grow, the trickle-down the - with Eric Dowd ory beloved of another former Re- publican president, Ronald Reagan. Harris like most Republicans, in- cluding Bush who joined the Nation- al Rifle Association gun lobby, sees gun controls as another example of the state encroaching on personal liberties. Harris hired Republican public re- lations expert Mike Murphy, noted for his hard-nosed electioneering for Bush and others, to direct commer- cials promoting his policy platform, the Common Sense Revolution, al- though Canadians were available to do the job. Han -is is a big fan of holding a referendum to decide poli- cy and has said he will hold one on future tax increases and expanding casinos. No U.S. election seems complete without its referendum. Harris's en- thusiasm for the U.S. is reciprocated. New Jersey governor Christine Whitman was here recently saying 'what he wants is the same thing I want' which is cutting civil service pay, curbing unions and privatizing. Harris in opposition was quick to Harris in opposition quick to fire off a release in the Gulf War saying 'Canada must take up arms; and support the U.S.-led coalition,, while New Democrat premier Bob, Rae urged relying on economic sanctions. Tory policy toward the U.S. tradi- tionally has consisted mainly of praising.'our greatneighbor to the south.' The Tories, unlike the NDP and Liberals, avoided anything that. might be seen as quarrelling with the U.S. propping up dictatorships in South America and even refused to see Argentine mothers touring trying to draw attention to their missing, murdered children. The Tories brought in a stream of U.S. Republicans to speak at their fund-raising dinners including for- mer secretary of state Alexander Haig and actor Charlton Heston, who revealed he received private briefings from the Pentagon and urged Canada to keep up its defenc- es. The only time the Tories ex- pressed reservations was when pre- mier William Davis in the early 1980s chided those in his party push- ing policies like workfare and privat- ization and said Ontario and its To- ries are different from the U.S. a'nd its Republicans and should keep this in mind if they want to be re-elected. Davis was speaking at a different time, but Harris might remember his warning. After all, even George Bush's pop- ularity did not last forever. 1